Max wanted to turn invisible. To run. Anything. Shame kept him plastered in place. Fluorescent lights hummed at deafening volume in the silence. Doctor Lance adjusted the balance on the scale and sighed.
"You can step down now Max."
The teen did so, his gut quaked and quivered.
"Max, can I level with you?"
"Uh, sure doc, what's up?" Max shirked a little at the doctors tone.
"'What's up,' young Max, is that I need to address the elephant in the room." Said the doctor. Max bit his bottom lip and blushed. "Sorry, just a turn of phrase."
Max braced himself.
"Do you remember your weight since we last did this?"
Lance looked at his clipboard and sighed. Last time Max came up just a little overweight. Something to be expected of a growing teen. So Lance thought. Perhaps he missed the beginning of a trend.
"No." Max shook his head, his plump cheeks felt heavier than normal under this pressure.
Lance told him.
Max gulped. The number seemed so small and faraway now. He tried to stick his hands in his hoodie pockets, only to remember too late that he took it off. His hands brushed against the flesh of his belly. It felt so soft, so good. So right. Yet, such thoughts did not feel right in his head. Even when he agreed to plump up for Roxanne, he knew his doubts still existed. It scared him. The thought that those doubts somehow disappeared.
"Sixty-eight pounds Max." Said Doctor Lance. "You've gained sixty-eight pounds since you last stepped in here."
Much to Max's shock, the number did not inspire feelings of shame. Rather, it inspired a much more primal feeling. He tried his best to stifle it. The doctor kept speaking, about the health problems his weight will cause if he doesn't stop. About how it will get worse. Max tried his best to listen, but every time the doctor described a bad thing, his mind conjured fantasies.
Oh yes, it will get worse. And I will love it. Max felt a warm feeling tingle in his gut.
"I will speak to you father about how to handle this best. You just wait here for a moment." The doctor said. He left the room.
Max grabbed his clothes and threw them on as best he could. His love handles poured over the tops of his jeans, his hoodie pulled tight against his midsection. When he bent over, he felt the seat of his pants pull tight and constrict against the shape of his rear.
He realized the clothes did little to preserve his decency. Better than naked. He sat on the doctors chair and saw his dad and the doctor enter the room.
"Alright son. Let's go." Said Goofy. He did not seem himself at all. His brow furled and his eyes marred with worry.
The car ride home made for awkward silence. He could see the gears in his father's head turn. Max wondered what the doctor planned for him.
"The doctor says you might have a gland problem." Said Goofy. "He'll see if he can find out for sure, but he thinks it might be something else."
"Like what?" Max said.
"Like a mental issue. He recommended a psychiatrist to me." Said Goofy.
"What? No, dad there's nothing wrong with my head."
"Something's wrong Maxie." Goofy parked the car at the mall. "The doctor said no one's ever gotten so big so fast without being sick somehow."
"Dad why are we at the mall?"
"I'm only making sure we are prepared son." Said Goofy. "If you are sick, and they don't find something soon. You're going to need much bigger clothes."
Max sighed and nodded.
~~
"So your dad's sending you to a shrink?" Said PJ. "Why didn't you just tell him the truth?"
"Because I don't want dad to make me break up with Roxanne." Max said.
"Yeah, good point." PJ said. They passed a small group of students in the hallway, only to catch wind of their laughter. PJ guessed it was at Max's expense. His gains now too hard to hide. The gym teacher cited PJ as a bad influence in his face during PE.
PJ looked at Max in a new, unfamiliar way. He understood what Max was going through. The doctors visit, getting bigger clothes, the kids in the hallway.
"Hey, I've got something to show you." PJ said, he took Max to his locker and went to work opening it.
"Come on Peej, I gotta go or I'll be late for work." Max said. His stomach grumbled at the mere thought of working at Busto's. The hamburgers sounded great right about then. Food made for good comfort.
PJ ignored him and opened the locker. He reached inside the spacious locker and pulled out two skate boards. He passed one to Max.
"A skateboard?"
"I heard your dad couldn't buy you a new one on account of all your new clothes." Said PJ. "And your extra spending money is going to 'dates' with Roxanne."
"Yeah, but my last one-"
"These one's are big guy proof." PJ walked him outside. "Go on, give it a shot."
Max took a deep breath and jumped on the board. He readied himself for it to snap in half like his old one, but much to his relief this one held. He skated around for a moment, attempted to ollie, only to stumble off the board. His new weight threw off the physics, but he was just glad the board held.
"Thanks Peej this is great." Said Max. "I'll get it back to you after work."
"Nah, you can keep it."
"Really? You don't need it?"
"It's an old one. Was thinking about giving it away anyway."
"Thanks Peej, you're the best."
"What're friends for?' PJ said.
"Okay, meet you at your place after work?"
"Yeah, you still owe me a rematch."
Max smirked and skated off. PJ realized then and there Roxanne was right about having a friend to relate to. Max never talked to him like this before. Now they were starting to approach equal ground. He still could not believe how big Max was getting and how fast it was happening. PJ reached the big "three-oh-oh" that year, Max was about to do it in three months.
He glanced thoughtfully at his own figure, then tried to mentally "transplant" it on Max. If the two were inseparable now, they might as well be brothers after this whole thing. A nagging thought bothered him, he knew Roxanne did not want Max to stop at his best friends size. Max was going to outgrow him, and when he did, what might change then?
Well, best not worry about it then. Just live and let live. They might only be better friends by the end of this all.
Later...
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